Date: 2015-10-13
Type of information: Development agreement
Compound: AST-VAC2
Company: Asterias Biotherapeutics (USA - CA) Cell Therapy Catapult (UK)
Therapeutic area: Technology - Services
Type agreement: development establishment of a new subsidiary in the EU
Action mechanism: immunotherapy product/cell therapy. AST-VAC2 is an allogeneic (non-patient specific) cancer vaccine designed to stimulate patient immune responses to telomerase, which is expressed in over 95% of human cancers but is rarely expressed in normal adult cells. AST-VAC2 is currently being developed towards a Phase I/II trial in lung cancer in collaboration with Cancer Research UK.
Disease:
Details: * On October 13, 2015, the Cell Therapy Catapult, the UK organisation dedicated to the growth of the UK cell and gene therapy industry by bridging the gap between scientific research and commercialisation, announced the signing of an agreement with Asterias Biotherapeutics. The agreement engages the Cell Therapy Catapult to advance development of a large scale manufacturing processes for AST-VAC2, Asterias’ allogeneic dendritic cell immunotherapy. As a part of the agreement, Asterias will be opening a UK subsidiary and employing staff based in the UK. The Cell Therapy Catapult will streamline and scale manufacturing processes for Asterias’ AST-VAC2 and its forthcoming phase II clinical trial targeting lung cancer. This will provide support that will enable advanced clinical trials and eventual commercialisation of the immunotherapy product. Asterias selected the Cell Therapy Catapult because of its depth of expertise in cell therapy and the head start the Cell Therapy Catapult had on the challenge due to its own internal Cell Plasticity Platform Project, which is developing large scale manufacturing processes for pluripotent cells. Asterias believes the Cell Therapy Catapult is an important driver in making the UK an environment that facilitates and supports the development of regenerative medicine products. As part of the agreement, Asterias plans a UK subsidiary. The subsidiary will provide Asterias with the ability to effectively collaborate with the Cell Therapy Catapult and other major partners in the UK. Asterias also will use the UK operation to play a critical role in contributing to the development of the AST-VAC2 platform and maximizing its value.
Financial terms:
Latest news:
